When attacked or thrown, this shell slides around the battle stage, damaging whomever it hits.

”

—Super Smash Bros.'s instruction manual

The Green Shell (ミドリのこうら, Green Shell) is a throwing item that has appeared in all five of the Super Smash Bros. games. Based on the item in the Super Mario series, the Green Shell has a variety of unusual properties when thrown.

In Super Mario Bros., there were turtle-like enemies called Koopas. When the player jumped on a Koopa, it would hide in its shell for a short period of time. When the player kicked the shell, the shell would slide across the ground, killing whatever is in its path, including the player. It would also slide across the ground if the player jumps on the shell. When the shell hit the side of a wall or pipe, it ricocheted off and slid in the opposite direction. Koopa shells were also an item that could be pulled out of the ground and thrown at enemies in Super Mario Bros. 2. In Super Mario Bros. 3, the player could also pick up a Koopa shell and throw it at enemies. In Super Mario World, if the player jumps on a Koopa, rather than hiding in its shell, it instead gets knocked out of the shell completely; leaving the shell empty. There were also instances in Super Mario World where a player can just find an empty shell. [1] The shells had also became a major item in the Mario Kart series and the Green Shell serves as the logo for the Shell Cup.

Upon being thrown, the Green Shell will deal significant damage and knockback to opponents; however, it has a higher specific gravity than most other items, and as a result, it will fall onto the ground more quickly than other items. Unlike other items, the Green Shell will continue to move forward when it hits the ground, and it will continue to deal damage and knockback as it slides. The resulting hitboxes, however, are not as powerful as the throwing hitbox, and the Green Shell's output becomes weaker and weaker as it begins to slow down. Furthermore, opponents can immediately stop the trajectory of the Green Shell by merely jumping on it, then use it against the original wielder; as the Shell also ricochets off walls and other barriers, it is also possible for a player to hit by their own Green Shell.

If the Green Shell is not picked up by players, it will stay in place until it is hit by a damaging hitbox, after which it will begin moving with a speed directly proportional to the knockback of the hitbox. Jumping on it will also cause it to begin moving either left or right, but with relatively little movement.

In Melee'sAdventure Mode, Brawl'sSubspace Emissary, and Smash 4'sSmash Run, Koopa Troopas and Koopa Paratroopas can appear as regular enemies. Upon having sufficient damage being dealt to them, they will retreat into their shells, and they can then be used as a standard Green Shell item. The resulting Shell is actually more powerful in terms of damage and knockback than the regular item, but not using the item after a time period can cause the Koopa to reemerge from the shell.

Unusually, the Green Shells found from actual Koopa Troopas are smaller than the actual item.

Hit or throw a Green Shell, and it'll follow the contours of the environment, causing heavy damage to any characters it hits. These Koopa shells have many uses in the Mario series: they've been picked up, kicked, swallowed and even spit out. Mario just uses them as tools to pummel Bowser's numberless henchmen.

An item that, when thrown or jumped on, careens across stages and hurts any player it hits. Green shells follow the environment's contours as they go and reverse direction when they hit walls. They really send opponents flying, so they're very effective as throwing weapons. If a shell's approaching, stop it by jumping on it. This technique is used in the Mario series.

The green shell of the Koopa Troopas. The launching power of this weapon is incredible in the right hands, but you should be careful; if it hits a wall, it may bounce back toward whoever threw it. If you see it coming back at you, just jump on it to stop it. It's like playing Super Mario Bros.!

You might have noticed these shells look a lot like the ones Koopas have. Throw, attack or jump on one to send it careening off, launching enemies and causing chaos as it goes. Then jump on it to bring it to a stop, or let it rebound off a wall, or... Hold on! What is this? Super Mario Bros.?

Initially the lines between the scales on the Green Shell were pale. Although the Green Shell's trophy in Brawl depicts it as it appears in contemporary Mario games, with black lines in-between the scales, the shell's in-game model is identical to its appearance in Melee. In SSB4, the shell's in-game model matches its trophy and has black lines.

Out of the three Shell items in the Super Smash Bros. series, the Green Shell is the only one to appear in every title, as the Red Shell has been missing since Brawl, and the Spiny Shell did not debut until Smash 4.

In Brawl, characters with high falling speed can perform a technique with the Green Shell called "Shell Hopping", involving fastfalling, throwing a Green Shell downward, and regrabbing the shell in midair. The result gives the player a significant vertical boost, though the results are most apparent when used with Falco.